The Veiled Legacy | PJO - Book Two

eleven

SECRETS

Nothing like total failure to generate great ideas.

As Ariana stood there, disarmed (her swords had been confiscated) and outmatched, the plan formed in her head.

She was so used to Annabeth providing Greek legend information that she was kind of stunned to actually remember something useful, but she had to act fast.

She couldn't let anything happen to her friends.
She wasn't going to lose Percy or Annabeth not again.

Chrysaor couldn't be beat. At least not in single combat. But without his crew ... maybe then he could be overwhelmed if enough demigods attacked him at once.

How to deal with Chrysaor's crew? Ariana put the pieces together: the pirates had been turned into dolphin-men millennia ago when they had kidnapped the wrong person.

Ariana knew that story. Heck, the wrong person in question had threatened to turn Percy into a dolphin.

And when Chrysaor said the crew wasn't afraid of anything, one of the dolphins had nervously corrected him. Yes, Chrysaor said. But hes not here.

Ariana glanced towards the stern and spotted Frank, in human form, peeking out from behind a ballista, waiting.

Ariana resisted the urge to smile. The big guy claimed to be clumsy and useless, but he always seemed to be in exactly the right place when they needed him.

The girls . Frank ... the ice chest. It was a crazy idea. But, as usual, that's all Ariana had.

"Fine!" Ariana shouted, so loudly that he got everyone's attention. "Take us away, if our captain will let you."

Chrysaor turned his golden mask. "What captain? My men searched the ship. There is no one else."

Ariana raised her hands dramatically. "The god appears only when he wishes. But he is our leader. He runs our camp for demigods. Doesn't he, Percy, Annabeth?"

Annabeth was quick. "Yes!" She nodded enthusiastically. "Mr D! The great Dionysus!"

A ripple of uneasiness passed through the dolphin-men. One dropped his sword.

"Stand fast!"Chrysaor bellowed. "There is no god on this ship. They are trying to scare you."

"You should be scared!" Percy looked at the pirate crew with sympathy. "Dionysus will be severely cranky with you for having delayed our voyage. He will punish all of us. Didn't you notice the girls falling into the wine god's madness?"

Hazel and Piper had stopped the shaking fits. They were sitting on the deck, staring at Ariana, but when she glared at them pointedly they started hamming it up again, trembling and flopping around like fish.

The dolphin-men fell over themselves trying to get away from their captives.

"Fakes!" Chrysaor roared. "Shut up, Ariana Parker. Your camp director is not here. He was recalled to Olympus. This is common knowledge!"

"So you admit Dionysus is our director!" Percy said.

"He was." Chrysaor corrected. "Everyone knows that."

Ariana gestured at the golden warrior like shed just betrayed himself. "You see? We are doomed. If you don't believe me, let's check the ice chest!"

Ariana stormed over to the magical cooler. No one tried to stop her. She knocked open the lid and rummaged through the ice.

There had to be one. Please. She was rewarded with a silver-and-red can of soda.

She brandished it at the dolphin warriors as if spraying them with bug repellent.